Bernie Ecclestone’s command over Formula One has been diluted for the first time in 40 years with the announcement that he is no longer signing the cheques.

The landmark statement came on Thursday from the sport’s parent company Delta Topco, seemingly bringing an end to ‘Bernie’s Game’ — his Svengali-like hold over virtually every aspect of Formula One’s billion-dollar empire.

But later Ecclestone defiantly refused to countenance the idea that he was being stripped of his power, posing the question: ‘If people want to shake someone’s hand (on a deal), whose hand do they shake? It will still be my hand.’

On trial: The 83-year-old will stand trial on criminal charges later this year, a German court has announced

FIVE COURT BATTLES HE FACES

Constantin Medien... sold their 16.7 per cent stake to Bayern LB for just £7.2m with a guarantee of 10 per cent of the proceeds if sold for more than £670m. It was sold to CVC for £467m. The media company claim Ecclestone entered into a ‘corrupt bargain’ with Gribkowsky to undervalue Bayern LB’s stake.

Bayern Landesbank... also claim to have missed out on a significant sum when Ecclestone allegedly undervalued their 47.2 per cent stake when it was sold to CVC.

Bluewaters CH... filed a £408m lawsuit at the New York Supreme Court in 2012 against Ecclestone, CVC and Bayern LB, alleging Ecclestone bribed Gribkowsky to ensure the Bayern LB stake was sold to CVC, despite their offer of ‘10 per cent above any genuine bona fide offer’.

Swiss Prosecutors... are investigating whether the alleged £27.5m bribe paid by Ecclestone to Gribkowsky was a criminal offence under Swiss law after a complaint brought by an unnamed ‘third party’.

Ecclestone added: ‘That is how I do business, always have done and it will be the same in the future.

‘These changes were discussed a year ago and agreed. They are a bit theatrical really.

‘We have to do things more formally than in the past — very formally.

‘It
has not been my style but it is part of what we need to do because we
have been thinking about floating the business. That is all there is to
it.’

The announcement comes as Ecclestone fights four cases
concerning alleged bribery, including a criminal case in Germany, where
the prosecutors have formally charged him — the development that prompted the restructuring.

He could also face charges in Switzerland where, after a complaint from a ‘third party’, investigations are under way to establish whether there was any criminal activity under Swiss law.

Thursday's statement said: ‘The board of Delta Topco Limited (the holding company for the Formula One Group of companies) has met today to discuss the decision of the Munich Court to commence proceedings against Mr Ecclestone.

‘Mr Ecclestone has reassured the board that he is innocent of the charges and intends to vigorously defend the case which will commence in late April 2014.’

Ecclestone is accused of paying £27.5million to German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky — who has already been sentenced to jail in Germany — so that he would push through the sale of the sport to its current majority owners, CVC, a private equity firm, in 2006.

However, Delta Topco added: ‘After
discussion with the board, Mr Ecclestone has proposed, and the board has
agreed, that until the case has been concluded he will step down as a
director with immediate effect, thereby relinquishing his board duties
and responsibilities until the case has been resolved.

Keeping faith: Red Bull team principal Christian Horner insists Ecclestone is still the 'right man for the job'

‘The board
believes that it is in the best interests of both the F1 business and
the sport that Mr Ecclestone should continue to run the business on a
day-to-day basis but subject to increased monitoring and control by the
Board.

‘Mr Ecclestone has agreed to these arrangements. The approval
and signing of significant contracts and other material business
arrangements shall now be the responsibility of the chairman, Peter
Brabeck-Letmathe, and deputy chairman, Donald Mackenzie.’

Mackenzie, who is in charge of CVC, declined to talk to Sportsmail.

He
has generally been loyal to Ecclestone, though told the High Court in
London last month that Ecclestone would be replaced if he was found
guilty.

There was little reaction from the teams as news broke yesterday.

They
do not want to speak out against Ecclestone while he may still be in
power and have long believed the ‘fact’ that ‘Ecclestone still runs
Formula One’ is the third guarantee of life, along with taxes and death.

Many
also feel great affection and admiration towards him for the
transformational role he has played in monetising the sport and
elevating its status around the world.

The only person who spoke up yesterday, did so in Ecclestone’s favour.

Red
Bull’s Christian Horner, who holidays with Ecclestone and attended his
latest wedding, said: ‘Bernie is absolutely the best and only guy to do
what he does, to take Formula One to the global reach that the sport has
achieved, introducing races in Russia this year, going back to the
Austrian Grand Prix.

‘It’s in all our interests that he’s around as long as possible.’

Glamour time: Ecclestone on the grid in Texas at last year's US Grand Prix

Ecclestone
recently spoke of Horner as his possible replacement — the first time
he had publicly contemplated Formula One in a post-Bernie world.

But
at least one member of the Formula One board would like to hasten
Ecclestone’s demise: Sir Martin Sorrell, the founder and chief executive
of multi-national advertising and public relations company WPP.

A
Jew, he was angry about comments Ecclestone made lauding Hitler as a
man who ‘got things done’ in an interview in The Times five years ago
and has since kept a close, and often disapproving, eye on Ecclestone.

While
it is clear that Ecclestone’s tenure would entirely end if he went to
jail in Germany, it is uncertain whether he would get his place on the
board back if cleared of wrongdoing. The German trial starts in April
and will drag on for several months — detaining Ecclestone at the
hearing which will take place for two days each week — and he will be in
his mid-80s by the time it is resolved.

Ecclestone’s change of
status throws doubt on the prospect of Formula One agreeing a new
Concorde Agreement — the tripartite regulatory and commercial package
between the rights holder (represented by Ecclestone), the FIA and the
teams. A test of Ecclestone’s status will be whether he is still
conducting those negotiations, or will Mackenzie or Brabeck-Letmathe?

Ecclestone, as he told the High Court last month, keeps all the papers in his offices and controls who sees them.

It would, therefore, be difficult for anyone else to pick up the pieces immediately.

And, despite the mighty symbolism of Thursday's developments, he won’t be handing over the keys readily.